What did I give up to live in Paradise?

Lawrie and Sparky, watching a Seahawks game.  

Well, certainly not NFL football! 

We were pleasantly surprised after moving to Isla to discover a large number of NFL supporters and some very avid supporters at that. 

On the island, there are several personal golf carts decorated with team colours, decals and flags. Many ex-pats proudly wear their team shirts and hang banners from their homes.

By far the largest number of fans support the Green Bay Packers. Being surrounded by a hundred or so Packers’ addicts can be a bit overwhelming for the half-dozen or so Seahawks fans, especially if our team is ahead in the scoring. 

Green Bay fans

Probably the most ardent fans are the folks whose brown and white house is named Casa Bahia Verde after their favourites the Green Bay Packers. Their golf cart is also upholstered in the green and yellow team colours. Go Packers!

The second biggest fan base seems to be for the Steelers. There are at least three golf carts on the island sporting Steelers’ logos. They are a very vocal and fun group in the sports bars.

And speaking of sports bars, Isla has three popular spots that you can count on to have their many televisions tuned to the NFL games.  

Gathering at a private bar Steelers fans - Carlos's FB page

Barlito’s @ Marina Paraiso has a cool palapa bar on the waterfront with lots of televisions to watch your favourite team. 

If you aren’t familiar with their location they are south on Medina Rueda, before the cement plant, and before the school. It’s a great spot hang out and cheer on your team.

Jax Bar & Grill at Super Bowl time - J Walker photo

Jax Bar & Grill, the big bar on the corner of Rueda Medina across from the Privileges Aluxes has most football and baseball games available to patrons. 

Frequently the downstairs televisions will be tuned to one game, and the upstairs to another. Depending on the preferences of the crowd.  

Sign from Nash's Sports Bar - FB page

And last but not least Nash’s Sports Bar on Hidalgo Avenue is a fun place to watch the games and drink really cold beer. It’s a smaller venue, located on busy Hidalgo Avenue with lots of interaction between the street and the bar.

We are Seahawks fans, but we don’t own a television, so we have to go out to the bar to enjoy the games. Oh, darn. That means we will probably have to partake of a drink or two, and if the Hawks win a taxi will be needed to take us home.

By us, I mean Sparky and me, although he is a non-drinker he can’t drive the golf cart because his paws won’t reach the gas pedal. Lynda and our new pooch, Max, are not football fans. They like to stay home and enjoy a quiet evening.

Dave just might be a Steelers' fan

There are probably other locations where the NFL games are available, but sometimes the programming is at the whim of the staff. You might find boxing or soccer (known as football in most other countries of the world) instead of NFL games. Just ask, if the bar has the channel they might be able to switch to your game.

So, don’t worry about giving up football when you come to Isla. 

Find your favourite spot, kick back, and enjoy the game while relaxing in paradise.

Cheers

Lawrie and Sparky

(It’s the guys turn to write!)

~

Trouble Isla

did you get into Trouble yet?

$2.99 USD on Kindle e-books

Amazon Review for Trouble Isla

5.0 out of 5 stars!

Engaging Page Turner!

By Isla Breeze on August 29, 2017

Kindle Edition / Verified Purchase

TROUBLE ISLA picks up at a fast pace with mystery, romance, adventure and excitement which are all brought together in a continuation of TREASURE ISLA.

Taking place on the small island off the coast of Cancun, called Isla Mujeres, those who visit and live there feel as though they are part of the story, knowing the many places and events depicted.

Even if you are not familiar with the island, it is a fun and captivating book. A must read!

Yesterday's News is Today's New Business

Sandra Herrera - new store on Juarez north of Elements

Who'd have thought - your morning newspaper and coffee could be turned into art.

What started as method to learn English, reading discarded newspapers from the hotel where her papa worked, has turned into a business for Sandra Herrera. Eight years ago she moved to Isla Mujeres from the silver town of Taxco in the state of Guerrero. 

Soon her sister Monica followed, then her dad, and finally she returned to Taxco to bring her mom and younger brother to the island.

Sandra working on a new item (from her photo collection)

Working at a local café, Rooster on the Go, her boss urged her to learn English. She attended the English School on Isla for a year and a half, and diligently read the newspapers. Slowly, slowly she learned to understand, and then speak the language. And then her life took a funny little twist. She made a small basket out of the discarded newspapers as a gift for a customer at the coffee shop. The recipient was delighted: “It's beautiful! Why don't you make more of these?” Using glue to bind the rolled paper, and coffee to varnish the finished products she created more baskets to sell at the café.

January 2012 Artist Fair at original Barlito's location

Then when approached by Brad and Tiffany Wareing of Barlito's to participate in their first Artist's Fair, Sandra shyly agreed to display her baskets. She was pleasantly surprised when her creations sold at the event. Sandra agreed to participate in the second show as a way to practice her English. A year ago when the Artist Fair changed locations from the street corner in front of Barlito's to the larger municipal plaza, Sandra continued to participate, gaining more confidence and selling more of her art work.

Sandra's new store on Juarez

Recently Sandra decided to take the plunge, opening her own store on Juarez just north of Elements of the Island. She said the scariest part of being a new business owner is keeping up with the demand for new creations, and special orders. 

Even though discarded newspapers are plentiful on the island, she still needs a steady supply of clean papers to keep up. Sandra smiled as she recounted one incident - she was checking various nearby garbage cans for newspapers when a customer from the café recognized her. She laughed with embarrassment, felling a bit foolish at being caught with her hands in the garbage can. If you happen to have newspapers that you are throwing out, why not drop them off at her store and check out her newest creations.

Materials for making baskets (photo by Sandra)

Sandra is normally at her store Monday to Friday from 10:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the evening, unless she is in Cancun buying supplies.  On weekends she works at Rooster on the Go, situated on the street behind the Artisan's Market near Poc Na. The owners are very supportive of her creativity.

Sandra at a recent Artist's Fair 

When the Artist Fair resumes in the fall, you will find Sandra set up at the municipal plaza with her beautiful creations and a gorgeous welcoming smile. Be sure to stop and say hello. She makes some pretty cool stuff!

Hasta Luego

Lynda & Lawrie

My favourite - a purse made of paper! (photo by Sandra)

You can find us on the web at:

Humerous stories about critters we have known:

http://animalsandfamilymembers.blogspot.mx/

AND

The Adventures of Thomas the Cat: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Adventures-of-Thomas-the-Cat-Las-Aventuras-de-Tomás-el-Gato

Patience! Living in Mexico is all about patience

“Living in Mexico is all about patience,” Tiffany Yenawine-Wareing philosophically wrote on her FaceBook page, “things happen when they happen.” 

You can almost hear the exasperation in her typed words.

Tiffany was referring to the road construction and daily changes to the intricate detour routes that allows access to the middle section part of Rueda Medina, the main north-south route on Isla Mujeres. She and husband Brad Wareing jointly manage the Marina Paraiso hotel/marina/restaurant/dive shop complex located behind the detour barricades.

First road block - near car ferry entrance

Rueda Medina is the route that gives customers access to at least eight other restaurants, a handful of bars, several hotels, four marinas, the cement plant, the building supply store, the middle school, a pharmacy, the one and only auto parts store, plus hundreds of homes that are located on the west side of the island between the car ferry and the Chedraui Super Store.

October in front of the Soggy Peso Bar & Grill

The repaving project started in early October and was to be finished within two months. In the meantime, a group of business owners met with the municipality and asked if a sewer line was being installed at the same time. 

They were told there were no plans for a sewer in that area for the next few years. Then the business owners met with Aguakan, the water/sewer provider and asked; “Why not? The road is already torn up, why not do it now, not in a year or two from now and repeat this whole painful process?”

Why not indeed.

November a few hundred feet south at the Marina Paraiso

Eventually with a lot of managerial scrambling the budget was allocated to upgrade the water lines and install a sewer. 

For those of you who have never been to Isla, you probably can't figure out what the big deal is. 



Perhaps you have noticed in your travels through Mexico signs that say: Please do NOT flush the toilet paper! Place it in the waste basket provided.

 That is because most homes and businesses operate on holding tanks, not sewers. The extra paper waste in the holding tank causes a big problem with space, necessitating weekly, or sometimes daily pump-outs with, as our grandson says, “the poo-sucker-truck.” Expensive! Smelly! And not very sanitary when the toilets backup or the tank overflows onto the street. Sewers are needed.

Point south and say you are headed to a restaurant

Besides the dust, dirt, noise and the daily confusion about how to access this area there is a personal cost for the employees. Their earnings (tips) are dramatically reduced with many customers avoiding the area, unsure as to how or where to gain access. 

Many taxi drivers are reluctant to drive customers or employees to the various restaurants and bar. A few taxi drivers have been demanding more money for the nuisance factor of traveling on bumpy dirt roads, worried about damaging their cars. The local Policia are telling people that the businesses are closed. Not so. They are all open, and waiting for you.

New sewer lines and upgraded water lines

The new construction completion date is set for the first of the year, but right now I am looking out my window at a torrential downpour of rain that is turning the dirt streets to mud-holes, filling in the trenches with goopy muck, and slowing down the process yet again!

This week the detour route starts at the north end of the project, near the car ferry docks. When stopped by the police at the barricades, just point south and say you are going to a restaurant, then head on into your off-road adventure. Keep a sharp eye out for the propane delivery truck, and of course the poo-sucker-truck. You really wouldn't want to have an close encounter of any kind with these two behemoths.

Expanded deck area at Marina Paraiso bar

The staff and management of the various businesses would really appreciative your support. Since I wrote this article yesterday, the road has been preliminarily paved up to the entrance to Marina Paraiso & Barlito's. 

Patience my friends, patience. Eventually it will all be finished. 

Hasta Luego

Lawrie & Lynda

Today's "pretty picture" - three amigos fishing near our house

You can find us on the web at:

Humerous stories about critters we have known:

http://animalsandfamilymembers.blogspot.mx/

AND

The Adventures of Thomas the Cat: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Adventures-of-Thomas-the-Cat-Las-Aventuras-de-Tomás-el-Gato

Off the beaten path

So, you've been to Isla a time or two and are getting slightly bored with hanging out at the beach all day.  

It might be a perfect time for you to explore, by golf cart, moto or bicycle, some of the local neighbourhoods instead of following the usual route along the perimeter road.

A decent map will help with your explorations.   

Laura McFarlin – the MapChick – produces a handy-dandy map and travel guide for the island.  Her map is available for sale at the hotel reception office of Marina Paraiso, located on Rueda Medina just a couple of minutes south of the whale shark statue.  

While you are at the office purchasing your map you might want to make a quick stop at Barlito's @ Marina Paraiso for a coffee and one of Brad's almost-world-famous Cinnamon Buns.  Yum!  Raisins, cinnamon, icing – three of our favourite food groups!

Okay, got your supplies? Camera?  Bottled water? Then let's go.

Head south along Rueda Medina, until you see the naval housing complex on the left side of the road.  

It is painted bright orange with a tall white perimeter fence, and a guard at the gate.  Turn left at the next street and slowly weave your way up and down the short blocks of the Caridad del Cobra and Canotal neighbourhoods.  

Located between the Salinas Grande (a land-locked salty lake) and the perimeter road this is a quiet residential area.  

Please be respectful and keep a sharp eye out for kids, cats and dogs playing in the roadway.  

A number of the roads will dead-end at the salinas or turn into pedestrian pathways necessitating turning around and retracing your route to the next through-street. 

Many of the houses in these two neighbourhoods are painted in eye-catching colour combinations of pink, purple, green, yellow, turquoise, or orange.  

Most of the really colourful houses seem to be on the streets with bird names; streets named Flamenco, Fragata, Garza Azul, Garza Blanca, Cormoran, and Aquila.  I also discovered a few on Manglero (Raccoon Street).  Unfortunately not all the streets have visible signage.  Time + sea salt = disintegration of everything metal.  

Don't assume you will always find a name for the road you are driving on.  Our road-trip theory has always been: if you don't know where you are headed, you can't get lost.  Just enjoy the experience.

And as we all know, driving in the tropical heat can be thirsty work.  Oscar's Pizza & Restaurante is on the main road, Rueda Medina.  Along the roadside entrance are a dozen or so huge wooden chairs made from the trunks of trees with twisted branches forming the back and arms.  

It's is a good place to have a cool beverage and if you are lucky enough to be there after 5:00 in the afternoon when Michael and the crew fire up the pizza ovens, well, the New York-style pizzas are amazing as are the delicious garlic knots.  Garlic knots; another favourite food group in our house!

Get out there and explore the island.  You will be glad you did.

Hasta Luego

Lynda & Lawrie

The late-afternoon "ah" factor

End of the day ritual 

It's become our end-of-the-day ritual, sipping a glass of wine and watching the sun set on another great day.  Ah!

The island has many great locations to watch the sunset.  Most of our favourite places are on the waterfront facing towards Cancun or Isla Blanca; locations where the brilliant colours of the setting sun are splashed on the ocean and echoed on nearby reflective surfaces.  

2002 at Villa Makax on westside of Isla

Our first trip to Isla Mujeres was in 2002. We stayed on the west side of the island at Villa Makax and the Rolandi Hotel.  

At that time golf cart rentals were not very common so we seldom left the neighbourhood.  I have very pleasant memories of standing barefoot in the surf with my glass of wine waiting for the sunset, and we all know good memories induce return visits.

We returned to Isla in 2005, after taking a trip to Bali, and then, as it turns out, one final vacation on the Pacific coast of Mexico.  We decided that Isla was better, much better!   

2005 Sunset Grill view 

On our second trip we explored more of the island, discovering other restaurants such as Sunset Grill at the north end of the island and Casa O's near the southern end of the island.  

2009 Lawrie at Casa O's Restaurante

Both restaurants were delightfully romantic places to spend a few hours savouring good food and beautiful sunsets.  

(The Casa O's property was sold a couple of years ago and has been converted to a lovely private home.) 

View near Brisas Grill and BallyHoo

Now that we are full-time islanders we have several other favourite places.  

A table on the beach at Brisas Grill on Rueda Medina is the perfect location to watch the sun ignite the sky with fiery pinks, oranges and reds before slowly extinguishing itself in the ocean.   





At Ballyhoo we usually try to grab the corner table to really appreciate the evening display.  

Besides the great show of the sun going down, there are usually boats coming and going, kids hanging out with friends, and fishermen bringing in their catch. There is always something to see, to photograph.

Sunset view from Soggy Peso dock

A little further south on the island are other good locations for sunset watching.  We are very partial to the Soggy Peso Bar & Grill, especially since the two large derelict boats that were blocking the great view have been towed away and turned into reusable scrap.  Sitting on the dock with a glass of wine is such a relaxing way to end the day - watching kayakers, and boaters enjoying a last bit of evening light. 

Jeff Current at Marina Paraiso

More recently Barlito's at Marina Paraiso has turned into another favourite sundowner hangout for us, especially on Friday nights when Jeff Current is belting out great beach tunes.  The location is spectacular. 

The jewel-toned lights hanging randomly from overhead tree branches creates a whimsical atmosphere.  The lights are far more romantic than the unfortunately standard florescent tube fixtures found in a number of local restaurants.  Recently Barlito's has added tall bistro-style tables and chairs tucked under tiny waterfront palapas, making the sunset viewing even better.  

My waiter sharing the rooftop view

We have one more favourite sunset location on the island.  It's private.  

Exclusive.  Our rooftop deck.  It's a great place for sunset viewing, for the late-afternoon "ah" factor, however, efficient bar service at this location is always a challenge.  The waiter grumbles when I ask for a refill.  He has to trek down thirty-eight stairs to the kitchen refrigerator, and back up thirty-eight stairs.  Sigh!


It's a good thing I know him quite well.



Cheers
Lynda & Lawrie

A playdate for adults!

A few months ago a good friend quipped that after reading our weekly blogs for the past four years, she had come to the conclusion that living on Isla was a never ending playdate for adults.  

That's a pretty accurate assessment of the situation, especially in the winter months when our northern friends return to share our pretty little sandbox. 

This past week was definitely a continuous playdate!  The 5th Annual Island Time Fishing Tournament began on Monday February 3rd.  It's a week-long festival featuring legendary fishing, talented musicians, and tantalizing food. 

The funds raised at various events during the week are donated to the Little Yellow School House;"to assist children who have physical, emotional, and learning disabilities." It's a win-win situation for everyone. 

The participants have fun and the school receives a large chunk of money to help with yearly operating expenses. 

Soggy Peso Bar & Grill - Brenda Nash Lamonica photo

We joined in the fun for three of the events:

Wednesday was the 4th annual Margarita Madness at the Soggy Peso Bar & Grill - starring three great guys who like to sing, play music, party, and sing some more. Once again Mal and Sally Richards, and their hardworking staff ensured that everyone had a great time. Only a few people unintentionally fell in the swimming pool this year!

Island Time Fiesta at Marina Paraiso

On Friday night a new event, the Island Time Fiesta, encompassed the large waterfront location of Marina Paraiso & Iguanas Restaurant.  

Organized by Tiffany and Brad Wareing, plus Carlos Espindola and Tani Cornell, it was a very successful and entertaining evening.  

Shortly before sundown, as we strolled along palm covered wooden walkways, we were greeted by the blood-pounding sounds of flamenco guitar music, and the rhythmic tapping of feet on a wooden stage. 

Fabulous!  

Female impersonator

As darkness fell, the second act, a troupe of female impersonators from Cancun, took the stage.  They performed complicated dance routines, that included energetic moves, while lip-syncing to popular songs.  

Their lead performer had a quick sense of humour, and even though the words were in Spanish we understood the intent.  

Our own, soon to be famous, Jeff Current

To wrap up the night, talented islander Jeff Current played guitar and sang fun tunes about sun, sand, and island life, interspersed with his good humoured jokes about islanders: "You might be an Isleño if ....."   

Well-known for his quick sense of humour, his secret has been exposed. He can sing, and sing well!  Plus he plays a mean guitar. 

Dispersed throughout crowd were food stations supplying a variety of yummy Mexican delicacies including tacos and a savoury paella created by the Marina Paraiso staff.

Logan Day showing off the yummy paella

Another food station provided custom-made marquesitas, those hot and crispy dessert crepes that can be slathered with chocolate, or Nutella, or bananas. Yum! 

The participating sport fishermen donated a heap of just-caught fish, wahoo, grouper, mahi mahi, that were turned into exquisite fish and chips.
  
The very happy crowd of over 600 attendees settled around the stage, or comfortably relaxed at tables scattered around the waterfront property.  With music, and food, and soft ambient lighting it was a perfect venue to relax and enjoy the tropical evening.

Disco Dance at Brisas Restaurante on the beach

On Sunday, the final Island Time Fishing Tournament event was the annual Disco Dance with Isla's renowned DJ, Rosa Sirenas playing tunes and keeping everyone dancing.  

We had a lot of fun trying out various dance routines, faintly remembered from years past, and entertaining the startled passersby when they glanced into the interior of Brisas Restaurante. 

Having fun at Brisas Restaurante

"What the heck are they doing?"  Seemed to be the common question both in English and Spanish.  "Having fun, just having fun." 

In all cases the proprietors of the venues: Soggy Peso Bar & Grill, Marina Paraiso & Iguanas Restaurant, plus Brisas Restaurante donated the use of their facilities, plus a huge chunk of the bar and food revenue to the sponsoring charity.  They are over-the-top good citizens.  Thank you everyone for a fun week, and for your support of a worthy cause.   


We need a rest!  No more playdates for this week: please!

Curtis Blogin, Bob Frye, and Lawrie at Brisas Restaurante

Hasta Luego

Lynda & Lawrie